


Seizing the Avatar

by PriestessOfNox



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-20
Updated: 2015-12-06
Packaged: 2018-02-21 21:47:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 8,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2483567
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PriestessOfNox/pseuds/PriestessOfNox
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A different take on the Avatar series on if Azula had become fascinated with Aang to the point of obsession. What will she do to have the Avatar as her living trophy, to have him willingly stay by her side? One sided(?) Azuaang and other pairings possible. Spoilers for the show on and possibly the comics afterward. I have no idea where I want this story to go so any comments would be appreciated.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. First Meeting

A smile is the first thing that catches Azula's attention about the Avatar. Sure she had assessed him the moment he was in view; child wearing brightly colored clothing in the style of the Air Nomads and a hat covering the give-away arrow tattoo if he possessed one, carrying some sort of staff. His body was lithe, probably capable of speed but it was hard to assess his ability to fight while he was standing still. She surmised that he was the Avatar but she could not be for sure yet; she couldn't afford to act rashly if he was indeed the Avatar.

Still with these observations and theories the first thing that was really note worthy was when the boy smiled. The smile wasn't even in her direction, pointed upward as the chain lowered the captured old fool, the former king of the former city Omashu, to the ground behind her Mai and Ty Lee. Very oddly she found the smile rather appealing, coming from looking at someone the boy was obviously rather fond of. Not many, if any, ever smiled around her in such a way, not even Ty Lee whose smiles were always so wide or sunny it looked like it hurt her to smile that way. No this smile was small, soft, relieved and so obviously caring it bothers her when the smile fades, when the boy turned to her, becoming serious.

"Do you have my brother?" Mai asked, voice as monotone as ever.

"He's here, we're ready to trade," the boy confirms.

The older girl and older boy behind the first boy, acting as their leader in this, appeared to be from the Water Tribe and look similar enough to be siblings. Just like the ones said to travel with the real Avatar. She still needed to get him to air bend to prove it though.

"I'm sorry, but a thought just occurred to me," Azula steps forward and turns slightly to Mai, already knowing her answer without asking, "Do you mind?"

"Of course not, Princess Azula," Mai predictably answered.

As Azula points out the folly of trading a powerful Earth Bending king for a toddler, she watches the boy's serious expression turn into a frown. He was wonderfully expressive, making him all the easier to read. Watching his eyes widen in reaction to Mai calling off the deal, causing the old fool to be lifted away was just delightful.

The boy called after the fool, calling him rather informally by name and suddenly started running forward, in her direction, holding his staff differently than before. As interesting as he was to watch she couldn't just let him do as he pleased, shooting fire to block him, secretly amazed when the boy leaped high into the air to evade her attack. She watches as he briefly touches the scaffolding around the statue of her father and pushes himself off, opening his staff into a glider in mid air. To confirm her suspicious the action causes him to lose his hat, leaving his arrow tattoo exposed, too late to hide as he holds on to the hat with his teeth.

"The Avatar," Azula felt herself grin, "My lucky day."

From her lessons, Azula always thought Air Bending was a useless element for fighting. The Fire Nation had taken care of the Air Nomads a hundred years ago easily enough after all. Still as she watched the Avatar she could not help how clever the boy was, using his breath to freeze the chain and holding up the old fool's coffin, how easily he deflected her fire with a bit of air, quickly breaking the chain with his staff to get the old fool and himself away from her. The boy then used air to keep them from crashing, using the old fool's coffin like a sled to glide down the mail chutes to quicken their escape.

As she chases after them in a stone mail box of her own, she can hear the boy laughing but not what was being said between him and the old fool. How could the boy be so carefree as to laugh when she was his opponent? She would have to show him not to take her lightly.

Their fight as they rapidly shoot down the mail chutes was fascinating. The Avatar continues to block her attacks and makes her fight for opportunities to attack him with his own attacks of strong winds. He continued to use his cleverness to try to evade her, his body moving quickly as she predicted to dodge her attacks and also agile in his movements.

It would have been interesting to see how the fight would have ended if that giant furry beast didn't come swooping in to save the Avatar and the old fool. She manages to make the beast dodge away from the Avatar with an attack but when the Avatar tried again to get himself and the fool onto the beast's back the water tribe siblings miss catching them and they fall.

Their fall is broken by another chute as they land crosswise on it, breaking right through. They land on another chute and start to slide down once again but she stays right behind them. She attempts to use a fire disk attack but someone, somewhere Earth bended protection for them and blocked her path, forcing her to abandon her cart and her chase.

She watched as they escaped her, swearing that the Avatar would be hers.


	2. The Chase

For some reason or another, the Avatar had left the old fool behind and the old fool didn't even seem to mind, showing how much of a fool he was. It truly didn't matter though; he was Mai's parent's problem now. Her focus would be what her brother's life goal had been not too long ago; capturing the Avatar.

The Avatar was a child but he was talented and skilled enough to make the chase challenging at the very least. There had to be some reason Zuzu failed at it for so long, even if it was Zuzu they were talking about.

As luck would have it Azula even had the seasons on her side; the spring causing the Avatar's beast to shed and making the little group easy to track. She, Mai and Ty Lee pursued them, watching the beast take off again each time they were getting close.

Due to the staff operating the tank, she and the girls were able to rest while they pursued the Avatar's group throughout the night. Their beast could not last as long as a machine and soon the Avatar would be hers.

By morning the Avatar's group had attempted to trick her, fur trail in one direction but broken tree tops befallen by a sleep deprived flying beast in the other. Only the Avatar would be able to make a fur trail without his beast flying for him so she sent the girls after the Avatar's friends and pursued the Avatar herself.

She found him, sitting in an abandoned town, waiting for her. She could see the dark circles under his eyes, the exhaustion with every breath; he was practically begging to be taken.

This was also her first opportunity to get a decent look at his eyes. At first they looked brown but when he lifted his head to look at her, his eyes caught the light and they almost appeared to be made of silver.

"All right, you've caught up with me," the Avatar spoke up, "Now, who are you and what do you want?"

"You mean you haven't guessed? You don't see the family resemblance," she remembered the Avatar's smile and laughter in former Omashu and wondered if she could invoke it again, "here's a hint." She covered her eye and deepened her voice for her imitation, "I must find the Avatar to restore my honor!"

She can't help but frown when the Avatar doesn't laugh, doesn't even respond. All he does is sit and watch her in silence.

"It's okay, you can laugh. It's funny," Azula insisted.

Instead the Avatar asked, "So what now?"

"Now," Azula almost wants to laugh herself seeing as the answer is so obvious. "Now, it's over. You're tired and you have no place to go. You can run, but I'll catch you."

The Avatar stood, "I'm not running."

So he was brave too, the notion made Azula smile. His bravery was foolish but it was still an admirable quality after dealing with so many cowards for so long.

"Do you really want to fight me?"

The sound of an animal approaching stopped the Avatar from whatever answer he may have given, both of them turning to see the newcomer. Out of all people, it was Zuzu, jumping off an ostrich horse and throwing to the side a conical hat as he stares her down.

"Yes, I really do."

Finally the expression of the Avatar changed, turning to that of alarm at the sight of Zuzu, Zuzu of all people, calling out his proper name in surprise. She would have to show them both who the real player of this game was.

Having Zuzu joined the fight certainly complicated things. She could not get the Avatar's full attention, nor could she give him hers. Each person was in a fight with two opponents, something the Avatar was in no condition to do having been foolish to take on one royal of the Fire Nation family to begin with.

The Avatar tried to flee but she didn't let him, forcing him to stay and continue the game with her and Zuzu. She fought, chased, dodged and attacked them both, unable to truly enjoy any of it because the Avatar was still reacting more to Zuzu than to her.

At last she got a reaction, even a smile, when the Avatar nearly got her to run into the upper floor of an old building with no floor. He sat, waving at her from the middle of the room, sitting on a swirling ball of air as he smiled. She managed to steady herself on the ledge to the side of the door, but barely had time to take in the expression before Zuzu had to ruin it by charging in without thinking and falling to the first floor.

The fight continues; just her and the Avatar for the moment. She traps him in another building, under the wooden planks she made fall with him when she made the ceiling collapse. With ease she lit the perimeter of the room on fire as she walked toward him.

She finally had him trapped. She finally had him scared.

Her lightning would be more than enough to render him unconscious for a while to make transporting him easy.

But her lightning never made it to its intended target; a water whip knocked her hand off course. Then cut the wood to free the Avatar.

"Katara," the Avatar all but cheered, grinning from ear to ear.

Azula made note of the Water Tribe's girl's name, chasing her down to end her only to be interfered with yet again by Katara's brother. The odds were against her know, the Avatar and the two Water Tribe peasants working together against her, then joined by a young Earth bending girl whom had not been at former Omashu but the Avatar and his friends seemed to know and were happy to see.

Suddenly Uncle and Zuzu were fighting with them against her as well, cornering her against a wall. They had trapped her.

"Well, look at this: enemies and traitors, all working together. I'm done," Azula raised her hands. "I know when I'm beaten. You got me. A princess surrenders with honor."

She looked between them and chose her target, striking Uncle with her lightning to give her an opening, smiling as she enjoyed Zuzu's cry of anguish even as all the opponent benders tried to strike her at once. She still escaped unscathed and with one small victory, even though she knew the strike had not been enough to kill Uncle.

Once a safe distance away, Azula recalled that the Water Tribe girl's name was Katara. She wondered what the Avatar was called.


	3. The Drill

Orders came from Father that put a hold on Azula's pursuit of the Avatar. She and the girls were to assist in the invasion of Ba Sing Se. In reality it was likely the Avatar would go there at some point, either to talk with the Earth King about the war or in an attempt to thwart the Fire Nation as it was in his habit to try, so it wasn't much of a setback really.

Almost like a grain of sand falling from an hourglass it was announced damage had been done to the drill from the inside; sabotage. The Avatar was inside the drill, sabotaging the invasion in a way Azula hadn't predicted; that was interesting.

Calling Mai and Ty Lee to her, Azula went to where the damage was being reported, rushing ahead when she heard the voice of the Water Tribe boy. She jumped down onto a brace, firing at the Avatar, whom dodged with the help of a warning from the Water Tribe boy. She was soon joined by Mai and Ty Lee.

"Wow, Azula, you were right; it is the Avatar," Azula could practically hear Ty Lee's flirty smile when she spoke next, gaze on the Water Tribe boy, "and friends."

Like most boys the water Tribe boy had not been able to completely resist Ty Lee's flirty smile, smiling and return and waving a little to her, "Hey."

Katara approaches her brother and drags him away, clearly annoyed. Ty Lee swings herself forward toward the Avatar who quickly air bends her away. The Avatar's group escapes the scene and race through the drill's hallways.

Azula and the girls catch up just in time to see them split up and she points in the direction of the Water Tribe siblings, "Follow them, the Avatar is mine!"

Finding the Avatar on the roof of the drill was no surprise; neither was his using water bending to cut away at one spot repeatedly. Given that he and his friends had done to the inside she could surmise that they had weakened it from the inside to collapse it from the outside with a final blow. It was clever; she wondered which one came up with it.

When she engages him in battle the Avatar tried to use both air bending and water bending to fight her but she evaporates his water quickly enough. The guards throw down boulders at the drill, the Avatar now using those with Earth bending to fight her as well but they're easy enough to dodge. She, on the other hand, manages to use fire bending to slam the Avatar into Ba Sing Se's wall and render him unconscious.

Leisurely she walks over to the unconscious Avatar, taking a moment to look at him. She supposes, for being bald, the child could be considered attractive. He would certainly have grown into a handsome man if he lived that long.

She lifts the Avatar up before the drill can carry him away under the wall and holds him against the wall, lighting a flame in her hand. If she was smart, she would kill him now. Yes that would mean the Avatar being reborn but it would be years before the Avatar could be a threat to the Fire Nation and by then it would be too late for the Avatar to do anything.

Yet there was a lot of potential in the Avatar. He was still young, he was powerful, and he was the last of his kind. He would certainly make for an interesting trophy.

Before Azula could make a decision, the Avatar awoke, saw the fire in her hand and gathered rock from the wall, creating a gauntlet to knock her away with.

A flood of slurry is released as the drill bores deeper into the wall, coating them both. Azula slides toward the Avatar, attempting to halt herself by wind milling only to collide with him. The force of the collision sends both sliding off opposite sides of the drill. She is able to stop her descent by grinding her feet into the drill's side and while she isn't sure exactly how she can fear the Avatar making it back to the top of the drill with the help of his lemur, whom he called "Momo".

She catches sight of him again, running down the side of the outer wall, heading for a boulder he had cut away into a point and wedged into the weak down he had cut into the drill. She fires at him and misses by mere seconds and is sent back forcefully as the Avatar leaps and slams down on the wedge, creating a large ripple effect.

With everything she knows happened already, Azula knows what the impact caused as she watches the effect from outside the drill. The impact of the blow caused the sliced braces inside the drill to collapse and the pipes to burst, releasing a torrent of even more slurry. The drill begins to release steam and its segments begin to collapse. Then the drill stops entirely, destroyed beyond repair along with this invasion attempt.

Azula, skids down the drill also covered in slurry. She lands by Ty Lee, causing the acrobat to be covered in slurry as well.

A hatch opens, revealing Mai, who is completely clean.

"We lost," Mai announced in that dry voice of hers.

"For now," Azula corrected, looking back toward the top of the drill. She doubted the Avatar would still be there by the time she got to the top again and with the slime all over her she would be unable to fight him properly.

It was then that Azula decided; she would have the Avatar as a living trophy. All she had to do was be patient and plan carefully.


	4. Suki

On the way to regroup after the failed invasion with the drill Azula spotted the flying beast. Figuring it wouldn't hurt to be a little late Azula ordered Mai and Ty Lee to follow her after the beast.

However there was no Avatar with the beast. Somehow they must have gotten separated and now the beast was being protected by a group of girls calling themselves Kyoshi Warriors, no doubt named for the previous Earth Kingdom Avatar. The girls even dressed in a fashion styled after Kyoshi if historical murals in the Earth Kingdom were accurate and fought with fans like her but they were taken down and captured easily enough. The only disappointment was that the beast escaped; he would have been a valuable bargaining chip with the Avatar if they had been able to capture him as well.

Once Azula, Mai and Ty Lee met up with the invasion force they took the Kyoshi Warrior garb away from their captives, giving them more appropriate prisoner garb to wear until they could be sent off to their future homes for the rest of their lives. Their leader, Suki, was imprisoned separate from the others, apart so they could not see or hear one another. She appeared to be strong but talked too much about how they would escape, that someone named Sokka would rescue her.

It didn't take long for Azula to realize that Sokka was the Water Tribe boy traveling with the Avatar. Now she was interested. For the rest of their time there, Azula visited Suki daily to hear her ramblings, gathering whatever information she could.

Azula knew if she asked anything directly about the Avatar she would get nothing. Suki was too stubborn, too loyal, to give Azula anything willingly and it was too soon to try torture. She wanted Suki in good condition if she could prove to be valuable later.

Instead of asking, Azula would make off hand comments, often insulting ones toward the Avatar and his group, and Suki would get angry and correct Azula's assumptions. Suki obviously cared for the Avatar and his friends along with Sokka, too much to let anyone, even a Fire Nation princess, to say anything harsh about them. Along with the corrections other, useless information, would slip but Azula drank them all up like a woman in the dessert.

The Avatar's name was Aang. He was indeed twelve years old, only two years younger than Azula. The Avatar, Aang, was a vegetarian and liked pastries. The giant flying beast was Appa and Aang had been devastated over the loss of his flying companion, stolen from him by sand bending bandits in the desert. It had hurt him so much so that he had tried stop caring about anything, realizing he was wrong to do so when he saw the birth of the refugee's daughter whom she had named Hope.

It figured that the Avatar would inspire such a name; the Avatar what exactly that for the people outside the Fire Nation: Hope. One could even argue that was what the Avatar was to Zuzu as well, his only hope of restoring his honor and returning home.

Still Azula had a different hope when it came to the Avatar; when it came to Aang. He was young enough where he wasn't set in who he was yet. His beliefs could be shifted, manipulated into her favor if given the proper time to work with.

The situation reminded her of a story she read once where a man had raised a young girl to be the perfect wife for him and married her once she was old enough. Azula found the story disgusting; the man had practically been the girl's father and raised her as a sexual object, a slave to his desires of what the perfect woman was.

The outcome would be different with Aang. Yes she was older than him but close enough in age where she could not be confused for his mother and she would, by no means, be raising him. She was also not grooming him for marriage; just to be a pretty, obedient bird in a cage.

Vaguely she wondered if Aang could sing.


	5. Predictable

Once Azula was sure she could get what she could about the Avatar out of Suki without torturing her, Azula put her plan into motion. She, Mai and Ty Lee took the acquisitioned Kyoshi Warrior garb, painted their faces accordingly and made their way into the city, managing to bypass the refugee lines by talking to some soldiers guarding the wall. Apparently the Kyoshi Warrior name actually carried some weight off of their little island; the group of girls having been working with helping refugees for the last few weeks before they had the misfortune of running into Azula and her warriors.

It took longer than Azula thought once they were in the city but they were taken to see the Earth King. Once there she had no problem bowing to him, knowing full well he would be the one bowing soon enough.

"In our hour of need, it is with the highest honor that I welcome our esteemed allies, the Kyoshi Warriors," the Earth King said in a manner far too enthusiastic, unfitting of a ruler.

After the bow, Azula looked at the Earth King whom was younger than her father but older than Zuzu by a few years. His glasses did nothing to hide the fact that he trusted far too easily, nor did his welcoming smile.

"We are the Earth King's humble servants," Azula said evenly, smiling slightly.

The Earth King talked to his bear creature, "Look Bosco, the Kyoshi Warriors are here to protect us; aren't you excited?"

Bosco emitted the yawn Azula wished she could have from listening to the Earth King's babble. Truly the Earth King was lucky she didn't want him dead yet.

Again the Earth King turned to speak to her, "It's been a difficult week for me. My most trusted advisor, Long Feng, and his Dai Li agents tried to take control of Ba Sing Se from me."

"It's terrible when you can't trust the people who are closest to you," Azula was thankful that Ty Lee was smart enough not to laugh at the irony.

"But there is good news," the Earth King continued to smile foolishly, "As we speak, the Council of Five is meeting to plan an invasion of the Fire Nation this summer, on the day of a solar eclipse."

Azula almost reacted, forcing herself to remain calm and to smile without having to force herself to be genuinely interested for the first time while talking to him, "Really? Now that sounds like a fascinating and brilliant plan."

With the Earth King's eager welcome and lodging provided at the palace, they had time on their side. This time was needed for the Avatar and most of his friends had just left the city for a bit, making Aang unattainable. They also needed the time to take down Ba Sing Se from the inside like the Avatar and his friends did to the Fire Nation's drill.

All she needed was the right opportunity. That opportunity was the Dai Li.

Mai and Ty Lee talking while "alone" was the bait, revealing their true identities to the Dai Li spying upon them. Not too long later Azula, awaiting and making sure to be presentable in the middle of the night, was taken by the Dai Li to Long Feng at a prison.

Years of lying to Zuzu came in handy, Azula acting indignant at being taken from bed and dragged there against her will. She even added that a "Kyoshi Warrior" would not be treated in such a manner to play the part of someone who thought their earlier lie was still into play, acting disappointed when Long Feng called her by her proper title.

"What do you want?" as if Azula didn't already know.

"I want to make a deal. It's time that I regain control of Ba Sing Se and you have something I need," Long Feng said so seriously Azula almost took him as such.

"Oh?" Azula continued to play dumb.

"The Earth King's trust," Long Feng clarified.

"Why should I help you," Azula questioned.

"Because I can get you the Avatar," Long Feng did not realize how magical those words were to her, how she had been waiting for him to say that just as she knew he would.

Azula allowed herself to smile, "I'm listening."

Soon Azula was dressed in Earth Kingdom clothing, something that reminded her of a Dai Lee agent and speaking to them as their commander. She enjoyed speaking to them, ordering them, threatening them all at once and one specifically.

Of course Ty Lee complimented her, as was her way, and Mai was entertained in her dry gloomy way, as was her way. It was no longer a challenge to predict these girls whom she had known and all but ruled over since girlhood.

Truthfully it had long been mediocre to predict most people for a very long time. Most believed her manipulations, like the Earth King and Long Feng, or gave in, in fear of her as did the girls and the Dai Li.

It was different in a battle though, where people would be desperate to do anything to save their skins. Sometimes Azula could still predict them but when she couldn't it just made the fight more interesting.

Still the Avatar Aang was different. She continued to surprise her off and on the battle field; clever and lively.

The chase down the mail chutes in former Omashu had been exhilarating. Aang not running away from her in the abandoned town but been a delightful show of spine. Then the battle of the drill, taking away from the very wall he was protecting to fight her off was just poetic. She couldn't even be too angry at him for causing her to lose those fights.

Still all good things must come to an end. With Katara already captured before Long Fend "arranged for" Azula's cooperation, Aang would not be too far behind to rescue her. To sweeten the pot and set another trap she had the Dai Li capture Zuzu to join Katara in her cave prison, Uncle escaping for only the time being. Soon enough she even had Suki's precious Sokka and Aang's Earth Bending teacher, Toph, locked away with the foolish Earth King, separately from Katara and Zuzu, when they came to warn him about the coup.

As predicted Long Feng came to betray her but Azula knocked him out of the game he couldn't even begin to play, securing the Dai Li as her own.

All the pieces were in place, all she needed was Aang to arrive to be knocked down.


	6. Victory

Aang arrived, freed Katara and went to rescue the others, Azula giving Zuzu a moment to speak with Uncle before having the Dai Li snarl Uncle inside a cage of crystal. She smiled at Zuko's indignant yell but hid it when she approached him.

"I expected this kind of treachery from Uncle, but Zuko, Prince Zuko, you're a lot of things, but you're not a traitor, are you?" Azula ignored Zuko's demand for uncle to be released, using words she knew Zuko wanted to hear, have wanted to hear for a long time. "It's not too late for you, Zuko. You can still redeem yourself."

"The kind of redemption she offers is not for you," Uncle tried to interfere.

"Why don't you let him decide, Uncle," Azula turned away from the old man and turned to her gullible brother, using elements of truth to persuade him. "I need you, Zuko. I've plotted every move of this day, this glorious day in Fire Nation history, and the only way we win is together. At the end of this day, you will have your honor back. You will have Father's love. You will have everything you want."

"Zuko, I am begging you. Look into your heart and see what it is that you truly want," Uncle tried to foolishly reason with Zuzu but Azula knew her seed had taken hold.

"You are free to choose," Azula lied, sending out the Dai Li agents before pursuing her Avatar and Katara into the next cavern.

In truth it took Zuzu longer to come to her side than Azula predicted. For a moment she hadn't even been sure he had when he arrived, stopping her from attacking Aang and Katara. Once he had made his choice though, everything went according to plan.

At first Azula fought Katara, allowing Zuzu to have his attempt to capture the Avatar. For this to work, he could not feel the success had been entirely due to Azula.

Zuko's turn was over though once he left the fight with Aang to "save" Azula from Katara, having water bended to capture one of Azula's hands and legs. She was certain she could have freed herself if she had been given the opportunity but decided not to dwell on it, pursuing her true target as Zuko took over the fight with Katara.

The fight was long, Azula and Zuko fighting them one and one, then together before the Dai Li came and made the difference in the fight, putting Aang right in the corner she wanted him to be in. She did not understand why Aang bought up the dome around himself, leaving Katara to fight alone, but she got into position, Aang in the Avatar State, just as she wanted, when he came out.

This was the first time Azula had seen the Avatar State. Gone was the child Azula fought before and there was this powerful being, just surging with the sort of energy she could only dream of. His eyes were fierce, the air cracked around him and the ground moved without bending. If she could, she would have liked to have watched this embodiment of might a bit longer but she couldn't hesitate.

The lightning hit Aang perfectly in the back, unable to help but smile to see that powerful body shake with the force of her. It was satisfying to see the light go out and to see him fall.

Katara summoned the water to her to create a wave t catch Aang. Now if Azula wanted Aang dead, she wouldn't have cared if Katara caught the body. However, she couldn't have Katara take hold of her prize.

With a blast of fire, Azula forced Katara back but the wave still moved with Katara's last command, catching Aang and easing him down as the wave lost its force.

Azula took Aang from the water before he could hit the ground, not caring that the water soaked her in the process. She clutched the still warm body against her, gazing down at him, his eyes closed and mouth slightly agape from his last moments of pain as he laid limply in her hold; vulnerable, beautiful and finally hers.

A scream from the distraught Katara brought Azula back to focus, the soaked Dai Li restraining her before the Water Tribe girl could make a move against their princess. They forced Katara to her knees as Azula approached her.

Once closer, Azula kneeled in front of Katara, showing her Aang's still form as she began to sob.

"Heal him."

The shock on Katara's face was priceless when she stared up at Azula.

"I can't have him reincarnating," Azula lied, "You're a water bender; you can heal, so you can still save him."

Katara was wonderfully torn by Azula's words. Clearly she wanted to save her friend but she didn't want to do Azula's any favors and was scared of what she would do to Aang if he was to live without Katara able to take him away from her.

"He's getting cold," Azula said to motivate her.

Quickly Katara pulled out a vial from under her dress which had been hanging from a necklace. Once Azula rearranged Aang, his head now on her shoulder, so his wound as accessible to Katara, the Water Tribe girl bending the water from the vial and put it to the lightning burn, the water glowing with Katara's chi.

When the glow faded, Aang stirred and his eyes opened. He had a moment to look up, to see who was holding him, before he slumped against her again, back into unconsciousness.

Katara tried to reach for Aang but Azula stood and the Dai Li held Katara in place. The Water tribe girl admirably struggled but in vain.

"You've done well Katara," Azula smiled at Katara's surprise that the Fire Nation princess knew her name. "To show my thanks I'm letting you go."

"I'm not leaving without Aang," Katara shouted.

"But if you're dead who will rescue him," Azula smiled at Katara's eyes, widening ever so slightly. "I'm being generous; I suggest you take my offer."

A blast of fire stopped Katara from any reply she would have made, forcing Azula to step away from Katara and the Dai Li to instinctively jump back, freeing the unharmed Katara.

Unsurprisingly the blast came from Uncle, whom looked prepared to strike again.

"Release the Avatar, Azula," Uncle's voice almost sounded threatening.

"Oh please," Azula walked over to Zuzu and deposited Aang into her brother's arms. The look on Zuzu's face was an interesting sort of bewildered, unsure of what to do with the Avatar he had been pursuing all this time suddenly gifted to him. "Go ahead and threaten now, Uncle. You and I both know you won't attack Zuko, even after he was loyal to the Fire Nation while you weren't."

Zuzu's expression was surprised but he was speechless, so unsure of the whole situation even after making his choice. Azula was going to have to build him up with promises of home and Father's devotion once they had a moment alone so he didn't do anything stupid.

Though he hesitated, Uncle did submit, lowering his arms but Katara took the chance to attack, trying to strike Zuzu herself. Uncle evaporated the water with his own fire before it could hit its mark though.

"Get out of here while you still can," Uncle shouted at the Water Tribe girl but she was still looking at Aang. "Go!"

Crying again, Katara ran for the waterfall, using her bending to lift her out of the cave, eyes staying on Aang for as long as she could.

Uncle lowered his arms, allowing the Dai Li to secure him again in crystal but turned his gaze away from Zuzu.

Azula put her hand on Zuzu's shoulder and squeezed it lightly to get his attention.

"Congratulations Zuko, you have captured the Avatar; Father will be proud."

"But you-" Zuko started but stopped himself, unsure of what he would say.

With a smile Azula released Zuzu's shoulder and looked down at her prize, stroking over the arrow on Aang's forehead idly.

"Come, let's go home."


	7. Homeward Bound

When Zuzu and Mai first saw each other again it was almost humorous. Mai's eyes widened and she stared, a slight flush coming to her cheeks. In return Zuzu looked surprised to see her but was as clueless as ever. Clearly her brother needed help in the romance department and Azula felt Mai's loyalty earned her a reward; she would have to work on them as they journeyed home.

To hurry up the trip home, Azula left the fallen Ba Sing Sei in the hands of Fire Nation soldiers and generals which she was able to let in with the help of the Dai Li. Once the Fire Nation's position over the city was secure, she and her party departed it.

The transport vehicles that were carrying them through the Earth Kingdom, so they could go the rest of the way home by ship once they reached the ocean, were numerous. They had divide up the prisoners and the Dai Li, in workers quarters, among them. Azula did, however make sure Suki and Iroh were imprisoned in the vehicle she would be on along with Mai, Ty Lee and Zuko up above in the best quarters the caravan had to offer.

There was room for Aang to be imprisoned down below with Suki and Iroh but Azula stopped Zuzu from taking him there. Instead she had Zuzu place Aang in the room between her room and Zuzu's.

"The door doesn't lock from the outside," Zuzu tried to reason. "He'll escape."

"He's half dead," Azula reminded her brother, "Even if he awakens before we reach home he'll be in no condition to attempt anything." She paused to squeeze Zuzu's shoulder and smile at him. "And between the two of us he doesn't have a chance."

It took a moment but Zuzu nodded, carrying the Avatar in the room for her. He didn't comment when Azula pulled back the blanket for him to put Aang on the bed and when she covered the Avatar with the blanket after but she could see the question in his eyes.

"You are, of course, aware that we can't kill the avatar, that would just make us look for him all over again," Azula began to explain. "He's also dangerous alive." She paused to look at Zuzu, "As he is now."

Though she was sure Zuzu suspected what she was getting at, he asked, "What are you trying to say Azula?"

With a smile, Azula lightly tapped Aang's forehead, not surprised when he didn't respond, "A young mind is a flexible mind; imagine how powerful the Fire Nation would be if the Avatar were on our side?"

His voice remained silent but Zuzu's stare questioned her quite loudly.

"If you have something to say, say it," Azula insisted.

"I don't think you can get the Avatar to join the Fire Nation," Zuzu admitted after some more hesitation.

"And chasing the Avatar for so long has made you an expert," Azula barely managed not to sneer at her brother.

"I have been able to observe him a bit," Zuzu insisted. "He's loyal to his friends, to the other nations and stopping this war. He might be young but you can't change who he is."

"He can stop it by ending it with us," Azula wanted to point out that Zuzu was older than the Avatar and she was able to change his mind quite easily but felt it would destroy the progress she made with him and still wanted to build on.

Zuzu then looked down at the Avatar for a bit before looking back up at her, "He might not be at risk of dying right now but his injuries still need to be treated."

Without waiting for Azula to respond, Zuzu headed out and she could hear him go into the room next door that she had gifted him. She imagined he wanted to get out of those Earth Kingdom rags and into proper Fire Nation clothing; she wanted to do the same herself.

Deciding to wait on that, Azula looked down at Aang again and removed the blanket for a better look. The Avatar's own clothes were practically in shambles, especially the shirt. She made note to get him new, Fire Nation, clothing as she removed Aang's shirt.

With the shirt gone, Azula could see that Zuzu had been right; Aang did have other injuries that needed to be cleaned and treated. Unfortunately she didn't have a clue on how to do any of it herself.

The platoon's doctor was called over from another transport before they got moving and she ordered him to treat the Avatar, watching as he worked, making note of each solution and medicine used and how the gauze was wrapped and secured.

"The one on his back will most likely scar but the rest will heal just fine with time," the doctor announced when he was finished, cleaning up his kit.

A scar made by her on Aang made Azula smile. It was a physical sign to the rest of the world that the Avatar was hers and hers alone.

"Any way to tell when he'll wake up," Azula asked, not bothering to hide her smile.

"Given what you've told me it's a miracle that he's alive," the doctor looked at Aang again, as if checking that he was indeed breathing, before answering her, "I'd say days if not weeks before he stirs."

"We'll at the very least be out to sea by then," Azula nodded, pleased, "He'll have no way to escape."

Azula dismissed the doctor and once the door closed behind him, she pulled the blanket back over Aang and watched him a moment. There was certainly something about the tattoo that drew Azula's eyes to it, so bright and unique that stood out on the Avatar, perhaps given his age or that he was, truly, one of a kind. She recalled the way the blue glowed so vividly white and strong before she broke the line on his back with her lightning.

Though knowing he wouldn't stir, Azula softly traced her finger over the arrow on Aang's forehead. After reaching the tip of the tattoo her finger slid down the bridge of his nose, hovering a moment at above his face when she flesh ended there. Then she brushed her finger tips over Aang's lips before leaving the room.


	8. Awakening

By the time they reached the ocean, Azula already had Zuzu warming up to Mai. Her brother talking and smiling, in his uncertain way, around the gloomy girl which made little smiles start popping up on Mai's face in return. If things stayed on track they would be kissing and holding hands before they reached the Fire Nation shore.

The ship that would take them home had enough prison cells for the Kyoshi Warriors to be divided up, each in their own cell, on the same ship and put Iroh in a cell in the middle of their group, making sure they knew he was a fire bender and part of the royal family. Their distrust of him would almost make for better guards than the Dai Li, whom were all given rooms among the Fire Nation crew working the ship.

During their travel on land and the transfer onto the ship Aang hadn't stirred. If it wasn't for the rising and falling of his chest with breath, Azula would have thought Katara tricked her into bringing a corpse back to the Fire Nation. Also, as proof of life, Aang's bald head had sprouted hair, it being black and silky whenever Azula ran her fingers through it. The hair was still short but Azula imagined it would look good long and even better once it was long enough to be pulled back into a top-knot.

They were well into the ocean when a noise awoke Azula in the middle of the night. She slipped out of bed, ready for a fight even with her hair down and no time to pull it back for, not one to be unprepared; she always wore something she could fight in to bed, a red sleep dress with slits up the sides to her hips for ease of movement and black sleep pants underneath to ensure she wouldn't have to kill anyone for seeing too much of her.

As she peeked outside the door of her room her suspicions were confirmed; the Avatar was indeed awake. Aang was heavily leaning against the wall for support, struggling to stay upright on his weakened legs, trying to get to the open hatch that would lead to the deck of the ship. The exercise was futile of course but one had to admire him for trying.

Not making a sound, Azula stepped out of her room and followed him, staying slightly behind so not to catch his attention yet. She signaled the Dai Li agents, whom she spotted in the shadows, to wait; to leave the Avatar to her.

Reaching the deck herself, she spotted Aang off to the side, holding onto the railings on looking out at the surrounding ocean, more than likely noting that there wasn't any land in sight. The Avatar had lost weight during his weeks of unconsciousness, all his strength needed to stay upright even with the help of the railing his legs were shaking. His tattered pants were all that remained of his nomadic clothing, shirt and shoes gone as quickly as Azula could get them off. His new clothes and shoes had been waiting for him to awaken but they would have to wait a little longer.

"What were you planning to do?" Azula called Aang's attention to her, watching as he jumped and turned his head to her, the movement to turn fully to her seeming to be too much effort for him at the moment. "You're weak, you have no glider and no one is coming to rescue you; they all think you're dead. Unless of course you're planning to swim what took us a week to cross by boat. If that's your plan, go ahead; I won't stop you."

Aang looked at her while before he gazed out at the ocean again, then his eyes fell to glare at the deck in silent defeat.

"Smart choice," Azula commended him before taking a step toward him, stopping as she watched Aang's entire body tense, turning to watch her like a wary owl cat. "Unless you plan to crawl back to your room I am your only choice."

His legs were still shaking and his arms were trembling with effort to hold onto the railing but Azula knew it wasn't Aang's fear of her causing it. His body was struggling, by the look on his face he was about to pass out again.

Luckily Aang fell forward, Azula sprinting forward to catch him as he collapsed, having to kneel down to keep both of them from falling over once she held his dead weight against her. She could feel his labored breathing, Aang's body punishing him for the effort he forced himself through even in his renewed unconsciousness.

"Stubborn bird," Azula absently stroked the back of Aang's hair, stilling when she heard footsteps and looked at the person whom joined her on the deck.

Now standing beside her was none other than her brother, Zuzu, whom must have heard the Avatar awaken too and followed her following him. His expression was trying to be neutral but he couldn't stop himself from frowning.

"What would you have done if he jumped?" Zuzu asked unaware of how Aang never would have been desperate enough to die to get away from her. Still he expected a reply.

Smiling, Azula rearranged Aang so she could carry him, getting back to her feet before she answered, "I would go fishing."


End file.
